It is well known that organic peroxyacids can be used as bleaching agents in detergent compositions Many different types of organic peroxyacids have been proposed such as peroxybenzoic acid, peroxyphthalic acid, peroxyalkanoic acid and diperoxyalkanedioic acids, described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,110,095, 4,170,453, and 4,325,828. Other classes of peroxy acids which have been disclosed include amidoperoxyacids which contain a polar amide linkage part way along a hydrocarbon chain (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,634,551 and 4,686,063) and phthalimido-substituted peroxyalkanoic acids (EP-A-325,288).
There is now an increasing interest in cationic organic peroxyacids, particularly for use in bleaching and detergent compositions, since, when compared to their non-cationic counterparts, they
(i) are more substantive; PA1 (ii) have a better bleaching performance; and PA1 (iii) are pH-robust. PA1 X and Y represent various groups; PA1 R.sub.2 is an optionally substituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.10 alkyl group; PA1 R.sub.3 is an optionally substituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 alkyl group; PA1 R.sub.4 is an optionally substituted alkylene group, ##STR3## h and k are integers from 0 to 3; 1 is an integer from 1 to 10; PA1 R.sub.5 is a C.sub.2 -C.sub.20 alkyl group, alkenyl group or alkyl-substituted or unsubstituted aryl group; and PA1 m, n, and p are 0 or 1. PA1 R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are each a methyl group; PA1 R.sub.4 is an optionally substituted, linear or branched C.sub.3 -C.sub.5 alkyl or alkenyl group; PA1 p is 0 or 1; z is an integer selected from 0-3; PA1 y is an integer selected from 0-5; w is 0 or 1; and PA1 X.sup.- is a counter anion.
A range of peroxyacids comprising a quaternary ammonium group is described in Japanese patent application JP4-91075 (KAO). In particular, this document discloses a range of materials of formula ##STR2## wherein: R.sub.1 is an optionally substituted, linear or branched, C.sub.1 -C.sub.20 alkyl or alkenyl group or an unsubstituted or C.sub.1 -C.sub.20 alkyl-substituted aryl group;
It can be seen that the cationic peroxyacids disclosed by this Japanese application contain a sulphonate as counter anion. Furthermore, in the Examples of this Japanese document a peroxyacid is disclosed having the following formula ##STR4## A disadvantage of this type of materials is that they may give rise to negative interactions with surface-active materials, especially anionic surfactants, (eg. precipitation) leading to loss of peroxyacid and a poorer bleach performance. Furthermore, it was found that local dye damage may result when coloured fabric is treated with this type of peroxyacid. It was also found that this type of peroxyacids can only be produced at relatively poor yields, typically ranging from 11-55% by weight.
We have now found a related group of peroxyacid compounds containing, as an R.sub.4 -group, a linear or branched C.sub.3 -C.sub.5 alkyl or alkenyl group, which compounds were found to have good bleach activity without showing any incompatibility with anionic surfactants.